Improvement in railroad-car heaters



UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

AUGUSTA M. RODGERSMYOF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILROAD-CAR :lf-IEATERS.

Speet'jicat'ion formi-ag part of Letters Patent No. 113,348, dated Aprt't 4, 1871..

To all whom it 'may concern i,

Be it known that I, AUGUSTA M. RoDGEus, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of N ew York, have invented a new and useful Apparatus for Heating Gars and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a clear and exact de! scription of the nature thereof, suflicientto enable others skilled in the art to which my in vention ap pertains to fully understand and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a side view, partly broken away, of a car and the heating apparatus. Fig. 2 is a similar top'view. Fig. 2 is a detached view. Fig. 4 shows a modification.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre spending parts in the several iigures.

My invention has for its object a mode and means for heating cars; and consists in the employment of balls, bars, or pieces of metal, which are to be heated (preferably to what is known as red hot) in a suitable furnace located in the depot or elsewhere, and then placed in one or more boxes or receptacles at the center or ends of the car. Flues or pipes extend under the seats or floor of the car and coinmunicate with the receiving-cham ber, whereby the heat that passes from the heating objects Will radiate through the iiues or pipes and heat the cars, and nally escape at the platforms or elsewhere; and, if the invention is applied to street-railway cars, conducted under the feet of the conductor and driver.

Referring to the drawing, A represents a car of usual form and construction for either horseor steam railway purposes. B represents fines or tubes,which are arranged beneath the seats or the iloor of the car, and communicate with boxes, drawers, or other receptacles, G, located near the ends or at the center of the main body ofthe car. The boxes C are made to open orbe drawn out in order to receive the means for heating the car, and constructed of or lined with non-conducting material to prevent the escape of heat from the bottoml or sides of the boxes. The means for heating consist of one or more balls, bars, blocks, or pieces, D, of metal, which are to be highly heated, say to a red heat, in a suitable furnace at the principal depot or elsewhere, where they can be heated in sufficient quantities to supply the entire line of cars, so that when the cars start'solne of the heated objects are placed in the boxes and the heat passing thereform is utilized for heating the cars. The heat cannot escape through the sides or bottom of the boxes, or only can escape at the points of communication between the boxes and flues, and thus ascends into the lues B and radiates therethrough, whence it diffuses itself in the cars. The lines extend to the platforms of the cars and terminate at or about the centers thereof, thus directing some of the heat to the places occupied by the conductor and driver for warming their feet.

In steam-cars the latter arrangement will be Vfor the benefit of the brakemen; but, if desired, the lues may terminate'within the cars, in order to confine the heat therein.

A register may be arranged with the boxes to regulate the amount of heat, and should be placed under control of the conductor or brakeman.

When the floor of the car is not suficiently high, a number of balls or pieces may be employed; but it is advisable to use large ones, since they retain the heat longer.

The fines may be arranged to extend across the car or under an open-work iioor thereof, with registers suitably arranged for the usual purposes. lf covered seats are in use, they may be perforated for the escape of heat.

In addition, hot sandc in be introduced into the ilues and serve to increase the heating surface and power; and, in fact, various other modes could be suggested for carrying the invention into practice.

It has been found that a ten (l0) inch shot will retain its heat sufficiently long that it need only be reheated once each day to produce the proper and ample amount of heat forA the car.

It will be seen that no fire-box or steamgenerator is necessary for each car, and consequently one person and one furnace or oven for each line will meet the requirements of this mode of heating, as set forth, and dangers of lire and explosion are avoided.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The mode of heating cars by means of a heating medium, consisting of metallic balls or bars heated prior to application to the car, made .non-conductible, for the purpose desubstantially as described. scribed'.

2. The boxes C receiving the heated objects The above specification of my invention D, substantially as and for the purpose designed by me this 18th day of February, 1871. scribed. Witnesses: A. M. RODGERS.

3. The combination, with the heating appa- G. K. RODGERS, ratus of the car, of the receiving-boxes C, F. A. RODGERS. 

